2008 Financial Year Compared to the 2007 Financial Year
Europe
Mobile telecommunications KPIs
| Germany | Italy | Spain | UK | Other | Europe | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closing customers (’000) | – 2008 | 34,412 | 23,068 | 16,039 | 18,537 | 18,515 | 110,571 |
| – 2007 | 30,818 | 21,034 | 14,893 | 17,411 | 17,007 | 101,163 | |
| Closing 3G devices (’000) | – 2008 | 5,836 | 5,905 | 5,264 | 3,632 | 3,555 | 24,192 |
| – 2007 | 3,720 | 3,762 | 2,890 | 1,938 | 2,353 | 14,663 | |
| Voice usage (millions of minutes) | – 2008 | 42,010 | 37,447 | 35,031 | 37,017 | 31,108 | 182,613 |
| – 2007 | 33,473 | 32,432 | 30,414 | 31,736 | 28,491 | 156,546 | |
The Group’s strategy in the Europe region is to drive additional usage and revenue from core mobile voice and messaging services and to reduce the cost base in an intensely competitive environment where unit price declines are typical each year. The 2008 financial year saw a strong focus on stimulating additional usage by offering innovative tariffs, larger minute bundles, targeted promotions and focusing on prepaid to contract migration. Data revenue growth was strong throughout the region, mainly due to the higher take up of mobile PC connectivity devices. The Group’s ability to provide total communications services was enhanced through the acquisition of Tele2’s fixed line communication and broadband services in Italy and Spain in the second half of the year.